ONALASKA — Four years ago when Ilwaco made the crossover round of the playoffs the Fishermen celebrated amongst themselves and then quietly called into the District IV command center and registered a forfeit instead of going toe to toe with the toughest team Southwest Washington had to offer.
One election cycle later and those Fishermen are nearly all grown up now, and they were ready to take their lumps and get on with life this time around. It was rarely comfortable, and it’s sure to hurt in the morning, but Ilwaco can hold its collective head a little bit higher this time around knowing they put their noggins on the line in Gritville, USA before absorbing every punishing block, hit and tackle the Loggers could throw at them in a 67-0 loss in the opening round of the playoffs, Friday, at Onalaska Memorial Stadium.
The Loggers haven’t said it out loud yet, but their goal this season is to bring home some new State hardware for the trophy case. And in the aftermath of a game where they reached mercy rule running clock territory with a 40 point lead with eight minutes left before halftime, those staggering expectations were clear as day.
“I think our first offensive series (Ilwaco) played really, really well. We punted away and the boys didn’t cover it so it went for a touchback,” Onalaska coach Mazen Saade said. “When they came off we just had a talk with the linemen and asked them, ‘Hey, did you come to play today, or what?’ And they turned it up a bit.”
Turned it up a bit, indeed. By the end of the contest the Loggers had outgained their guests 517-66 in total yards. The Loggers also forced two fumbles and recovered one, while Sam Pannkuk reeled in an interception.
“I thought our defense was lights out and took things away,” Saade said.
On the flip side, that output for the home team included a staggering output of 259 rushing yards and three touchdowns on just four touches early in the contest for senior Blaze Underhill.
“It was nice to see other guys get involved in what we do,” Saade said.
Of course, Underhill wasn’t the only Logger to rumble in their postseason welcome party. Rodrigo Rodriguez added 164 yards and two touchdowns on six carries. That output included one 85 yard scamper that saw Rodriguez zig all the way to the grandstand sideline before zagging to the darkest corner of the field untouched for a touchdown.
And once Onalaska had the 40-point lead in hand it started doing something it so rarely does — pass the ball. Funny enough, that newfangled tactic worked like a charm against an Ilwaco side that would have packed 12 men inside a phone booth it thought it could help to slow the Loggers’ roll.
By the end of the first half quarterback Lane Gordon had thrown a whopping five times, plus a two-point try.
“I thought Lane Gordon played lights out,” Saade said. “It was nice to throw the ball a little bit this game.”
Those pass attempts netted 104 yards and three touchdowns, with Cooper Lawrence pulling in two catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns along with a two-point conversion. Nick Rushton hauled in the other successful pass for a 27-yard touchdown.
“Lane Gordon and Cooper Lawrence were a couple of our ball boys on our State title team so it was pretty fun to watch them play pass and catch like a couple of kids one more time,” Saade said.
And if you thought watching the Loggers pass a handful of times was strange, wait until your mind tries to process an Onalaska point after kick. That’s right, after Brodey Triana broke the goal line from three yards out for the game’s final score in the fourth quarter the Loggers called their starting unit back onto the field for an exceedingly rare PAT try. The call to kick sent a roar down the home sideline and Lawrence delivered with a boot that would have been good from 35 yards out.
As for the Fishermen, the positive returns were difficult to quantify beyond the basics of being able to face their fears. Not that Ilwaco was looking for any attaboys for simply showing up. Nor was it willing to anoint Onalaska as the team to beat out of Southwest Washington.
“We didn’t compete very well tonight,” Ilwaco coach Ron Rood said. “In our division we’ve seen Napavine and Adna and they're good too. We’re just too young and too little and we’re not at that level yet.”
Quarterback Haddox Hazen threw the ball 12 times for just 13 yards, with an interception working against him. Robert Sanders caught one of those passes for 10 yards to lead the Fishermen receiving corps.
But as they walked off the field and into the fog of the night, those paltry stats were not of the utmost concern to the Ilwaco bunch.
“They’ve come a long ways in the couple years that I’ve been there,” Rood said. “From a team that played like this every week to a team that most of the time competed. We’re trying to do it one step at a time.”
You can ask junior tailback Corbin Johnson, who was on the sideline the last time the Fishermen made the playoffs. And he was disappointed back then that the team didn’t want to properly accept its playoff bid, and the punishment that was sure to come along with it.
“You might not be able to tell it by looking at the scoreboard,” Ilwaco running back Corbin Johnson said. “But that feels way better to do it this way.”
That sort of fighting spirit from the Fishermen, coupled with an overall course that’s charting toward success, was not lost on Saade from the other sideline.
“That’s a tribute to Coach Rood and his staff and where he’s got these kids playing,” Saade said. “They’re a young group and if they buy into what he does they’ll be super successful.”
